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By Michelle Kaske

A US lawmaker wants New Jersey Transit riders to be reimbursed if they experience long delays due to Amtrak service disruptions after commuters in the New York City region this summer were left stranded on trains and platforms for hours.

Representative Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, is proposing that rail passengers be reimbursed when their trains are delayed or canceled for at least three hours, with Amtrak to repay NJ Transit customers when its system is at fault, the lawmaker announced Monday at a press event in Glen Rock, New Jersey. Called the “All Aboard Act,” the planned legislation is a rail-passenger bill of rights similar to what’s been proposed for airline customers.

Commuters in the New York City region have been plagued by extreme service disruptions as Amtrak’s aging infrastructure cannot withstand the record heat wave that’s hit the area this summer. NJ Transit riders on July 31 were trapped for nearly three hours in the rail tunnel that runs through the Hudson River because of an Amtrak power outage.

Read More: NJ Transit Breakdown Traps Commuters for Hours With No AC

“For the sake of Jersey, for the sake of our families, for the sake of our economy, for the sake of the region, it’s time to start solving this problem right now,” Gottheimer said. “No more double talk, no more endless meetings. Let’s just get to work and get this done.”

Amtrak is working hard to improve reliability for the Northeast Corridor — which connects Washington, DC, to Boston through Philadelphia and New York City — after nearly five decades of chronic underfunding by both the federal government and its commuter partners, Jason Abrams, an Amtrak spokesperson, said in an emailed statement.

“We and NJ Transit, like Congressman Gottheimer, want on-time service that meets customer expectation, and we are working diligently together to identify root causes and make improvements to the many old assets we rely on every day to support roughly 450 daily trains in New Jersey,” Abrams said. 

A NJ Transit spokesperson said the agency is unable to comment on pending legislation.

Amtrak and NJ Transit trains must share the Hudson River rail tunnel to get in and out of Manhattan. That creates a choke point when either rail provider experiences power disruptions or infrastructure failures. After much finger pointing, Amtrak and NJ Transit officials in late June said they would work together to resolvethe chronic service problems.

Read More: NYC Commuter Hell Shows Old Wires Are No Match for Extreme Heat

Some European countries have initiatives similar to Gottheimer’s plan. Rail passengers on the UK’s National Rail system are reimbursed for delays and cancellations as are customers traveling by train through the European Union.

Gottheimer’s bill would also require Amtrak to speed up its replacement of aging or faulty infrastructure.

(Updates with Amtrak response in fifth paragraph.)